OR:Medford gun firing incident highlights law enforcement double standard

Charges have been filed against an Oregon veteran for firing a warning shot to stop a wanted felon who he says tried to break into his home, Medford’s ABC affiliate KDRV Newswatch 12 reported Tuesday. Police also confiscated the man’s rifle.

“[Corey] Thompson was charged with Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Menacing and Reckless Endangering,” the report states, after he allegedly fired one round from an AR-15 personal defense rifle into the ground because, he claims, wanted felon Jonathon Kinsella “was trying to break in through his back door.” [Note: The Medford Police Department Media Release spells their first names “Cory” and “Jonathan.”]

Police say the shot was unwarranted, because “the suspect was walking away.”

Thompson’s reported actions merit scrutiny on several levels, as questionable firearms handling and defensive tactics, and as legally problematic, both for what he reportedly did and the fact that instead of letting his lawyer do the talking, he’s making statements that can be used against him. The most fortunate outcome of this incident, at present, is that at least he did not take Vice President Joe Biden’s advice and fire through the door.

Still, his case stands in stark contrast to that of an off-duty FBI agent from the other side of the continent in the Bloomberg gun control paradise of Queens. Unlike with mere citizen Thompson’s case, because of his government employment status, the agent’s name will not be released by the authorities, at least according to the New York Post story, which reported that his car with an “M-4 assault rifle and a bulletproof vest in the trunk” was stolen from his driveway Tuesday night. But having his name withheld from the media is not the only way special privileges have been afforded the federal law enforcer.

Last summer, from “his bedroom window,” he’d shot a man in the back for allegedly trying to steal his car.

His name wasn’t released then, either, but that’s evidently not the only benefit of government law enforcement employment.

Charges against the accused car thief and his accomplices were dropped, the Queens DA announced “the agent would not be charged criminally for the shooting,” and the FBI would not comment on whether the agent would face discipline following its “investigation to determine whether the agent complied with the bureau’s policies on the use of deadly force.”

More at Gun Rights Examiner Here